Day 224; The English Beat

During the late 80’s and early 90’s I loved listening to the English Beat. A blend of Reggae and Punk, which ended up being called Ska, made for great listening. I think that I even saw one of their shows at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco in 1990, or 1991. If you would have asked me 20 years ago if I’d ever be dining with the English Beat at an Indian burrito shack, I would have called you crazy! Tonight, Tugboat and I dined with the English Beat at an Indian burrito shack called Punjabi.

As with so many things in my life, my dog Tugboat introduced me to the English Beat. I was ordering when I noticed a group of people beginning to introduce themselves to Tugboat. He’s a jumper, so I always make sure to keep an eye on him when people are nearby. He was doing his normal I-gotta-kiss-your-face routine and all seemed well. The people joined me in line and I was drawn to their English accents. I spoke with them about Tugboat, and one of them talked about missing his German Shepherd that’s back home in England, and the conversation continued.

We all sat together and I still didn’t know that I was sitting with “The English Beat.” We talked about dogs, and I mentioned a friend of mine that’s an artist from England. After a while I asked what they were doing in Mill Valley and they said that they were performing. There’s only one place to perform in Mill Valley these days and that’s the Throckmorton Theater. That’s when I asked them for the name of their band. I was embarrassed to find out that I’d been eating with one of my favorite bands and that I didn’t even recognize them!

Tugboat and I escorted them back to the theater where they walked straight in the front door and passed admiring fans that were waiting out in front. Tugboat was loved up one last time by band members before we said our goodbyes. They’re a nice group of people, and it was nice to get to meet them as just that, people, and not The English Beat. Thanks for the company tonight.

Today’s ride was dreary. The rains were back and the higher that I went on the mountain the worse that they became. The temperatures dropped too, and that made for a cold one. I spent 30 minutes in the shower trying to thaw out. Spring, can you come early this year?

Distance: 10.05 miles
Calories burned: 1,793
Time: 1:09:25 hours
Elevation gain: 2,855 ft
Garmin Connect ride details: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23230091